Technological developments never stop. Machines can already perform many tasks and in the future they will probably take over even more of the work we do. Which jobs could disappear and which will remain in the future? Olaf van Vliet, Professor of Economics at Leiden Law School, commented on these issues…

What do the election results say about the Netherlands today? Students and experts discussed this at an Election Breakfast organised by study association Diqit. Analysts, including Hans-Martien ten Napel, Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, notice a new dividing line in Dutch…

The Netherlands has gained a third commentary on the Constitution – with Leiden as its home base. The first copy of Een nieuw commentaar op de Grondwet (A new commentary on the Constitution) (published by Boom Amsterdam) was presented to Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Torentje last week.

From 25 May, a new European privacy law will apply. Companies and authorities must deal with personal data in a clearer and safer manner. Bibi van den Berg, Professor of Cyber Security Governance at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), tells in Nu.nl what the law entails and about the…

Leiden Professor of Molecular astrophysics Ewine van Dishoeck has been awarded an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). She has been awarded 2.3 million euros in research funding for the MOLDISK programme. Within this programme, Van Dishoeck wants to connect chemistry and physics in…

Last week an audit committee from the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) visited the Wijnhaven building at Campus The Hague to review the proposed new English-taught master’s degree programme ‘Law & Society: Governance and Global Development’.

Professor P.F. (Paul) Wouters has been appointed dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences with effect from 1 January 2019. Wouters has been appointed for a period of three years and succeeds Professor Hanna Swaab, whose second term of office as dean expires this year. Swaab will remain…

The Leiden University team won second place in the highly competitive Dutch National Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in Amsterdam in February 2023. The team did well in both the written and oral segments of the competition, and Marleen Onnekes was awarded the…

Op 13 June the Leiden Leadership Centre hosted a workshop following the research project on ‘werken volgens de bedoeling’ at the Municipality of The Hague and the SVB.

The scientific world is a competitive place. Even so, researchers are often prepared to share their findings with colleagues. This applies particularly to men as a group: women are much less willing to share their work, whether it is with other women or with men. This discovery was made by Leiden and…

This September a new Masters Track

What is the history of plastic packaging in human society?

Joris Larik, university lecturer at LUC, discusses in this interview with Al Jazeera the new trade and cooperation agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom.

Marcel Cobussen on

The Villa Son Sard archaeological project aims to determine the boundaries of the Roman and post-Roman villa at Son Sard on Mallorca. While the team was excavating in the summer of 2023, several news outlets covered the findings.

Ever wondered how big the food waste problem really is?

The Hazelhoff Centre for Financial Law research programme for 2020-2023 centres around the integrity of financial markets during times of crisis and possible regulation to secure it.

The first congress of the UU Paleohub, 'The Future of Paleography, Paleography of the Future'. 10 april 2025

Alex Elias, alumnus of the Research Master Linguistics, has won the prestigious Jan Brouwer Thesis Award for his thesis. Elias, who is currently working as a PhD-student at UC Berkeley, wrote his thesis under supervision of prof. dr. Marian Klamer.

The Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society of the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen organises a lecture series named 'Religion Matters'. During this series, research from the faculty on various diverse subjects will be presented to a broader audience.

Skandapurāṇa III presents a critical edition of the Vindhyavāsinī Cycle (Adhyāyas 34.1-61, 53-69) from the Skandapurāṇa , with an introduction and annotated English synopsis.

In Augustus 2012 Kim Beerden will join the staff of the Institute for History as lecturer in Ancient History.

The short documentary film was selected to the short film corner of the Cannes Film Festival.

Between 10 and 22 August 2025, Institute for Digital Humanities at the University of Göttingen, Germany, organizes its 4th Summer School in Digitital Paleography. Application deadline 30 April 2025

On 17 March Renate Dekker was awarded the Cardinal Willebrand Prize for her MPhil thesis on 'The Sahidic Encomium of Pesunthios, bishop of Keft: towards a new understanding, based on a recently discovered manuscript.'

The silenced paradoxes of urban renewal.

Charles Melville, Professor of Persian History at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Pembroke College, will be the Central Asia Visiting Professor from 20 November until 28 November 2017. Charles Melville will deliver a guest lecture on Thursday, 23 November, co-organized with LUCIS, and a masterclass…

Contacts between English and Dutch speakers had a profound impact on the literary landscape and book culture of England and the Low Countries. This conference crosses conventional chronological, linguistic, geographical and disciplinary boundaries to explore the cultural history of relations between…

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded Veni funding to four Humanities researchers at Leiden University. One of them is Anna Dlabačová. This award offers promising young scientists the opportunity to develop their own ideas over a period of three years.

Lecture

Arco Timmermans Public Affairs

The 2020-2021 academic year has begun. The new academic year may have been opened in a pared-down ceremony, but a ceremony it was nonetheless, with around 150 guests in the familiar setting of Pieterskerk and around 1,000 people watching the livestream. ‘Universities will always exist, however rapidly…

Joris Larik has been appointed Director of Education at Leiden University College The Hague (LUC). The timing is perfect: this year marks his tenth anniversary at LUC. After a decade full of experiences and challenges, he now looks ahead. ‘How do we keep innovating?’

‘You’re in it together,’ says Pascal Haazebroek, Director of Studies of Psychology. ‘You have an influence on your education; you’re part of a university, so come back to campus now that you can,’ urges Kirsten Buitelaar, student member of the Board of Education. Read this double interview about lecturers…

In the past half a century, China has transformed from an underdeveloped and inward-looking country to a major player in world politics. The country asserts itself more boldly on the world stage; not only in relation to nearby countries and places such as Taiwan, Japan, and other countries that share…

In the public debate on the coronavirus, bold assertions from academics, doctors and other medical practitioners are often heard. For example, that the coronavirus would be no more deadly than the flu. Or that measures to combat the virus like wearing face coverings are unnecessary.

We catched up with Annette Righolt, Honours College coordinator at FGGA, about a grant, a new course and the new year.

The new University Sports and Exam Centre is another step closer. Bigger sports and exam halls, plenty of room for meeting people, an open feel that integrates with the Campus Square and the sports fields, optimal acoustics and an uncompromisingly sustainable building with a green facade and solar panels.…

How do you make lobbying and rhetoric both challenging and understandable for high school students? Professor Jaap de Jong found the answer in climate activist Greta Thunberg. Together with his colleague Arco Timmermans, he developed a digital guest lecture on how to present a convincing story.

It's a no-brainer: of the candidates that you can vote for on 23 May, 14 studied at Leiden University. We asked four of them about their motivation and ambitions. In this article we interview Samira Rafaela, alumna of Public Administration, and Caspar Rutten, who is studying Law.

To support policies and decision-making on sustainability, it is important to involve citizens and stakeholders in the process. The term used for this in Public Administration is 'participation'. Professor Eefje Cuppen observes that things still often go wrong with participation. Inaugural lecture on…

Science diplomacy, broadly defined as all activities at the intersection of science and foreign policy, has become a buzzword during the past ten years.

No procession of professors, just a handful of people in the church and snowdrifts outside Leiden’s Pieterskerk: 8 February 2021 was no ordinary Dies Natalis. Carel Stolker transferred the rectorate to Hester Bijl, and Annetje Ottow became the new President of the Executive Board. With an honorary doctorate…

Motivated, innovative lecturers are the driving force behind our teaching. Thijs Porck is a lecturer in Medieval English at the Leiden Centre for the Arts in Society. He passed the Senior Teaching Qualification at the end of last year. ‘As a lecturer, it’s good to keep thinking about what motivates…

Using an innovative method, psychologist Loes Janssen and colleagues measure how long and how often parent and child are close in daily life, and how they experience that togetherness. The researchers combine ‘Bluetooth low energy beacons’ with the smartphone app Ethica to track participants' physical…

Sacrificing yourself for the greater good: in China, martyrdom and hero worship have been strongly encouraged by the Communist Party for the past decade or so. University lecturer Vincent Chang tells us more about this far-reaching development.

Starting as an MP during the Covid-19 pandemic and after the recent ‘role elsewhere’ debacle during the coalition talks for a new Dutch government, alumna Mariëlle is looking forward to making a real contribution in society.

NWO-funded audiovisual research into the experiences of migrants during major life events has culminated in new insights that can further our understanding of complex migration dynamics. The completion of this five-year project was marked with a roundtable event including international guests.

The Institute for History has a new academic director. Professor of Early Modern History Jeroen Duindam will take on this role from 1 September. ‘You can only do this job properly if you make time for it.’